A/N: I got this story in my head, and had to get it out on paper. I think it stands fine as a stand-alone, but its specifically set eight years after Warmth. It feels darker than my usual stuff, but it's probably not any worse off. I left it kind of unresolved at the end there, but really like it. I feel like it lets the emotions speak for themselves and lets the reader put the pieces together. I have a backstory for having Ami date as she did; she moved all the way to the States and got lost in the world up there. I'm thinking of possibly turning it into a third installment of Warmth, but that decision is neither here nor there.

Anyway, it's not my best work. The fact that it's a one-shot leaves it a bit fragmented and 'missing' something. I think my writing style just naturally flows much better in long works, but I thought you guys might like this as I finish up Warmth. Read and reviews are welcome, even criticisms. Feel free to PM as well.

The The door was ajar, but she knocked nonetheless.

The room had barely changed. The same baseboards, ingrained with centuries-old wood still glossed quietly up at her from their positions on the baseboards. The desk, where she had spent so much time studying, still sat idly, clean and forlorn. She was afraid if she breathed deep, she'd pull in the soft scent of must and ink, the cast of the lamp settling soft light over her as she lost herself in the texts before her, the sound of Rei shuffling in behind her, her soft scent of ash and incense following her into the room as she baited her lightly for bed.

The posters and and wall hangings that had littered the walls, full of pop stars and movies were gone, the walls pale in their emptiness. The computer had been replaced with a more modern one, a pile of papers thick with ledgers sitting tucked in the corner. If she closed her eyes, she could still see Rei, hunched, typing away final reports into the night, only to feel the blessed warmth leave her again in the early light as the temple called her..

She swallowed, losing her breath as her eyes fell to the figure of a body she knew so well.

For a long moment there was silence, and she could feel the miko drinking her in, studying her as she did her own texts.

She hadn't changed. Her eyes were deeper, sadder, and lines had formed on her face that had not been there before. Her features were longer; the teenage face had given way to that of a woman's, the features spreading evenly across her face and settling there, adding a grace to her features she had not held before.

For a moment, she wondered if any time had passed at all. It was as if she had stayed just as she had left her, devoted to the temple, as much a part of it as the ancient beams that held up it's walls.

She could feel those eyes washing over her, remembered exactly how intense they could be, burning through her. It scared her as it always had.

Her eyes fell away, doggedly, to wash over the flooring. She never could match her gaze.
"I.. ah. "

A shaky breath escaped her as her eyes fell away to the woodgrain below. The figure straightened in her peripherals and turned to her fully.
"I know.. I know you're working. But, ah.. I thought I'd.. stop by..."

The nymph brought weak eyes back up, but the same intense gaze waited for her and the words died on her lips.
Let you know that I'm back...

A thick, strained silence that lasted forever filled the room between them. A slight glint hit the miko's eyes, and the shadow of a smile fell to her lips.
"You're a doctor now."

The miko sat, regarding her.
"Not yet."

A wry smile, and she stepped cautiously in, standing before her.
"I still have... residency. And maybe, a fellowship."

She moistened suddenly dry lips. The woman had let her off some kind of hook by sitting, but she felt as if she were being weighed, measured.
"The hardest part.. is still coming."

A moment passed between them as the bitter taste of silence rested on their tounges, and Rei couldn't help but let her her eyes wash over her beauty. She had left a girl, but a woman stood before her now. Her eyes were brighter, and her straight back spoke of a confidence she had never held before.

"Soon. The whole world bows before you."
A wry, hard glint set in her eyes and she shifted slightly, leaving room for her on the sleigh fainting couch.

She shrugged. Unable to take the invitation but fearing rejecting it outright, she stepped closer, leaning lightly against it.
"I have big shoes to fill. Mom got published again last month. She is..."

Rei smiled wryly, the corners of her eyes wrinkling with laugh lines that were not there before. She remembered Ayune. She had not spoken to her in years, but she had treated her as her own. Immediately after Ami had left for greater things, the woman had reached out to her constantly, but Rei's duties grew, and she found herself looking for excuses to distance herself from the woman.
"...a wonderful woman."

They caught eyes, and there was in them a sincerity that she did not expect, one that spoke of dinners of the three of them together, of Ayune bidding them goodbye with shaded smiles and words of 'My Girls' on her lips. Her form sank down next to her.

"I'm sorry.. about..."
She tried to say, 'your', but he had been as much her own as he had been Rei's when he left this world. He had taken her in as his own, risked his own temple and welfare to keep her safe simply because Rei had claimed her as her own.
"Grand-dah..."

The miko had cast her eyes away, searching for something hidden inside the grains of the wood.
"It was his time."

There was a silence around her that had not been there before. It seemed as if she had found her peace in her absence, her anger edging away into the softer lines of acceptance.

"I should have..."

"You had school. Middle of the semester, and half the globe to travel. If..."
She trailed off, an edge of anger on her voice.
"You would have thrown it all away, had you come."

An emptiness filled the room, and Rei's eyes settled on her. They were so deep that she could lose herself in them. She feared if she didn't speak soon, she would bathe inside her scent, then Rei would be upon her and her lips would taste just as sweet as she remembered.

"Rei.. you..."
Her throat was filled with tears, but she had to get it out.
"You gave me it all. If wasn't for.. you..."

A warm hand found her cheek, and soft, gentle fingers caught the tears before they stained her cheeks.
She opened her eyes to see amethysts boring into her own, unshed tears glittering in them but a smile played across her lips that shone and brought life into her eyes.

"Big shoes."
The miko's voice shook, but she did not tear her eyes away.
"Great things."

The breath left her, and the welcome warmth left her cheek. There were questions in her eyes, but Rei shook her head and answered before they reached her lips.
"You left to conquer the world... and I stayed and took my place here."

The miko turned, setting both her legs on the floor, leaving Ami with a single leg splayed and the other tucked underneath, watching the weight that seemed to have fallen on her shoulders.
"And along the way... you met someone to help you carry that weight."

Her eyes, saddened, fell to the nymph's own.
"You brought him here to meet us."

The tears trickled slowly, and she dabbed at them lightly as she spoke.
"I was.. ah. I was going to. But I.. I left him."

Somber eyes turned towards her. Her mouth opened, but no words came out, and she continued.
"And then, I was going... to bring her."

The doctor pulled in a breath, drawing herself up and pulling set eyes up to amethysts, a strength there she hadn't seen before.
"But-tuh. She left me."

She swallowed, her cheeks shining, and a crooked ghost of a smile fell to her features.
"Bigger worlds."

She regarded the raven-haired woman, waiting, but her silence only filled the room between them as she dashed her eyes away, pain clear in them. If she ever had any questions as to miko's feelings toward her after all these eight years, they were answered now. She had every reason, every right, to return some of the pain Ami had caused her in leaving.

And now she sat here, handing her all the ammo she would ever need to give her what she rightfully deserved, what she had deserved for years. Rei had loved her, and cared for her, and dedicated herself to her. And she had left. Her own voice startled her, the way it dripped off the walls.
"You can say it."

Rei's despondent eyes turned to her own, a weak smile that didn't leave her lips.
"Nothing to say."

Her heart stopped. It swelled, so large it choked her, ran up into her lungs and lodged itself there.

That temper. That strong, defiant tip of chin, the glittering challenge shining in the eyes, the angry jut of mouth.

Oh, oh how she remembered that temper.

How many times had it risen to her defense, how quickly had it flared as she hid behind it?

Oh, the temper.

And never, never, had it ever turned on her.

Not even to this day.

She swallowed her heart back down, fighting the tears in her eyes and stood, backpedaling a few steps of sweet distance.

Her heart sat in her eyes. Where it had always been. Right where she had left it.

The miko did not move, only watched her silently, her heart shining out at her through her eyes, her form bent over itself, silent in its resolve. A bell chimed somewhere, and the miko's eyes danced behind their tears.
"Grand-dah is in the fire room."

Ami only nodded slightly, her heart beating so hard she could feel the rush of blood in her ears.
"We're not supposed to... ah..."

The miko tore her eyes away for the first time, and it seemed to break them both out of their trance. The voices of strangers lilted their way down the hall, towards them.
"His ashes. You can let yourself out when you're done."

The miko stood, and Ami felt suddenly dwarfed, small before her.
"Feed the fire."

The woman blinked up at her. It was forbidden.
"Pay your respects. You didn't get a chance to say goodbye."

The miko glided past, a whisper of a touch upon her shoulder, and the door slid shut behind her.